A Hand-Woven Universe 7 7. Hot Tea

"Please."

The small elder beckoned one of the air-attuned who had been lingering around since his lesson.

"Yes elder?"

"Would you mind getting us some tea from the dining quarters?"

"Of course not! Please just wait for a moment."

In tapestry the elders were the backbones of everything. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they are revered.

Both elders watched the man run off, boosting his steps with natural wind laws. Elder Azelle reminisced about what he had been like when he was young. Early in his life the reigning elder was a fire attuned woman with an unbelievable amount of skills. Even for other elders, being in the same room as her could be suffocating if she didn't actively suppress her aura.

Her lineage continued to reign strong with her children and grandchildren. But none developed as terrifyingly as Adria had. Adria was that elder's lineage, but even that elder had not been such a monster. He thought about how much the two had in common... "It's a shame… you weren't around by the time Adria was born." Elder Azelle sighed.

"I wonder how far Adria is, she is certainly taking her sweet time" Elder Azelle scoffed looking indignantly at the cliff below, as though Adria could see him.

The smaller elder laughed at his disgruntled friend. "What did you expect when you told her? She is too much for anyone in Tapestry to handle! Even you, old friend!" He laughed louder.

Two years ago, when Adria was 16, Elder Azelle had told her a secret about their conclave.

Every thousand years or so, the oldest elder in the conclave will pass on his seat as The Elder. Then he will take the youngest prodigy with him and they will then embark out into the surface world to search for any signs of it being inhabitable. Yet to this day, no one who had set out had ever returned.

Because of this many people thought that it was simply chasing death. However… what were the alternatives? Eventually… one day… the world would welcome them. And they needed to be ready to take that chance when it happened. But so far, they only knew that they were the sole survivors of a desolate dead uninhabitable world.

He offered Adria a choice. He told her that she could come with him, and there is a high chance she would die in a desolate world alongside him. Or she could stay in the conclave, live out the rest of her 500 years, and when she becomes The Elder, she could embark on her own with another of her choice.

Adria did not hesitate.
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She chose to go out with the elder. To her, she refused to believe that the world was just this. Just… Tapestry.

Elder Azelle nodded, pleased with her decision. If the world is finally past its desolation, then he will be her vanguard to protect her from whatever dangers lay out there. And she will become the foundation, setting up a new home for the people of Tapestry.

He told her that in a few years when she completed her coming of age test, they would leave not long after her return.

What he did not expect though, was what had happened immediately after this conversation.

After Adria had left, she immediately walked to the balcony of Tapestry and threw herself over the edge.

...

When Elder Azelle found out he nearly had a conniption. Raving and saying things the other elders did not know he was capable of.

You see, in Tapestry the coming of age ceremony is a sacred trial by fire. At 18 you are to jump over the edge of the balcony and fall to the ocean below. Then using their enlightenments regarding their attunement, they are to make their way back up - scaling the cliff wall and doing whatever it takes to return.

Only once every few thousand years does someone fail to return. For most attunements it is a breeze, just time consuming. The hardest part by all accounts is energy management. There have also been a few people who had made it quite a way's up before making a mistake and falling all the way back down to the bottom.

This ceremony serves as a catalyst to help the people of tapestry to utilize and learn more about their elemental affinity. Of course, as in all things there are exceptions. Liter for example never took the coming of age ceremony, he was too important, and his attunement caused his body to be too frail to survive that kind of journey.

Adria taking the initiative to launch herself off the edge two years early caused the entire Conclave to erupt in discussion. Though everyone was sure of her abilities, being far stronger than most fire attuned well into their 100s, there was still a hushed worry in the air. Fire attuned have a particularly tough time in the trial, drenched and drowned out by the cold water and clouds and mist.

All they could do is wait.

"Here is your tea, elders." The young man had brought back a tray with two cups of tea for both elders, still steaming hot. The man had sweat on his forehead. Obviously, he had rushed as fast as he could to bring the tea for them.

"Thank you very much Eraim" The shorter elder took the tray from the man and set it between him and Elder Azelle.

Both elders took in the scenery in front of them and picked up their Tea simultaneously and brought it to their lips.

"Good tea!" They said simultaneously.

Eraim grinned, pleased with the compliment. He had gone out of the way to get a hold of the best tea he could find.

Suddenly, without warning in the midst of this peaceful scene the world directly in front of the elders lit up red! Bright red! And hot! Followed by what sounded like a cheer from a very familiar voice.

A streak of red had shot past the two elders.

All the tea in their cups had been splashed onto their clothes,

Eraim looked on dumbfounded.

Both elders set down their tea cups, not saying anything.

At this time a glowing girl crashed down onto the overlook from above, seeming to have overshot the distance by a few dozen feet.

The elders and everyone that had been on the overlook walked over. The glow around the girl was as strong as even the oldest fire-attuned elders in Tapestry. On her face a grin was plastered.

"She must have had a wonderful time down the cliff." the smaller elder mocked. Truly this girl…

As everyone gathered around her laying on the ground, she groaned slightly from the impact and then kicked her body up, forcing herself to pop up to her feet. Face to face with her now, the elders couldn't believe how strong her energy was!

"Elders!" She was going to hug them but then noticed wet stains on their clothes, "Umm, elders? You seem to have spilt something on yourselves?"

Suddenly all the goodwill that Elder Azelle had for the girl left him as he remembered how much trouble she caused. A vein showed on his head and Adria just chuckled and looked away. The shorter elder merely smiled wryly and used the air to dry their robes.

"By the way where's Noone?" She looked at Elder Azelle "I tried to make it back before his attunement test, but I think I am a little late? Did it already happen?"

Chapter end